Gas Giants

With fake news very much in the...ahem..need, we look at one of the great media upsets of history...Subscribe to Gas Giants This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

"The most persistently individualistic Portuguese filmmaker" sits down with us to talk about Pessoa, Lovecraft, poetry, film making and the subtle art of manipulating the algorithm.Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

John Zorn's 1989 homage to Ornette Coleman's Oeuvre is still available, if you look hard enough. We tell you why it's worth the effortSubscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom & Gav chat about a green drink, a 5000 dollar bill, and the great American novel This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Neatly attired in fetching Hi-Vis yellow Vests, the Gas Giants enter the world of Michael Houellebecq This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

The Gas Giants sit down to chat co-creator of one of the most underrated albums of the 1980'sSubscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Ghost Dog was apparently the moment when Jim Jarmusch achieved “Mainstream Recognition”, but what does this fundamentally mournful reflection on the end of things have to tell us? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

"If you want a vision of the future, imagine classrooms of teenagers being made to read Orwell's 1984 forever". Other Dystopian Fiction is available.Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Keeping abreast of current events as always, Tom & Gav look at a film from 1970, based on a novel from 1951.Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

With Eric Dolphy's landmark album celebrating 60 years this year, Tom& Gav decide on Birthday cake for lunch. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Before plunging into the cultural maelstrom of 2025, our heroes pause to cast their eyes over the rapidly receding landscape of 2024. Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

One of the first things that Luca turned up was this rarity, which features the father of Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay….but which one of those masked men is he?The Businesses* 8mm Records itself is all over Instagram and you can see their Discogs page HERE.* Fiasco Porto is a Tokyo Jazz Kissaten in the Heroismo quarter of Porto.HERE is an article from a Portuguese lifestyle magazine, which has some great photos.* HERE is the Discogs page for 8mm records, the label.* 8mm in Barcelona can be located through their instagram 8mm_bcn.* From Jan 1st the new website should be up. Link HEREThe MusicWe talked a lot of Music with Luca and it would be impractical to list everything, but there are some highlights to point out…* HERE is a long dissertation about New Music during the Estado Novo, which we touched upon during our conversation.** Miles plays Cascais…* …then Charlie Haden plays Cascais with Ornette Coleman and runs in to a little problem with the PIDE…* We also mentioned Sonoscopia, which has done a lot for “Outsider” Music. LinkHERE*A record from the Quarteto Smoog turned up in a crate……and this one is planned as a reissue.Other Record Shops in PortoAside from Luca’s operation, the invincible city has much to offer the record collector. Here are some of Gav’s favourites…* Porto Calling. A great city centre shop tucked into a 60’s era arcade. Good selection of second hand and new vinyl, which changes regularly. Great website with a full mail order catalogue available HERE.* Discos do Bau. Not far from the Miquel Bombarda gallery quarter. Good selection of Rock, Pop, Jazz and even some Classical; all second hand. Full website available HERE.* Louie Louie, also city centre location. I have yet to go into this shop without coming out with something. Website HERE.* Away from Porto, we also mentioned this combination of Air bnb and Record shop in London, HERE.Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

It's not every day you get and invitation to "the Savage Interzone at the heart of contemporary music", so Tom & Gav set off to investigateSubscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Which medium should you use to decode messages from outer space? Tom & Gav review the optionsSubscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Could I get a definition of Podcast here? Tom and Gav sit down for a portion of Alphabet soup with Donald Rumsfeld in Errol Morris's movie "Unknown Known"Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom & Gav begin an examination of Narcissistic Psychopathy with a look at Hitchcock's 1948 classic Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Our Easter Special; for all those planning on getting struck by lightning this weekend, stay at home and listen to this instead. People have actually started Podcasts specifically to talk about how much they hate this movie, but we like it. Are we the only ones? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Subscribe on Spotify ∙ Stitcher ∙ Apple ∙ Pocket Casts ∙ Google ∙ TuneIn ∙ RSSNucleus finally talk about it…….later.How does this all work? Annoying people is fun!Sam Kriss noted that “something annoying is both fascinating and unbearable,” in I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves (Damage 2021). “But it’s interesting how it seems to be impossible to object to something annoying simply on the basis that it’s annoying. Annoyances are small, they’re not important; you can swat a fly if it buzzes too close, but it’s hardly worth getting out of your chair. At the same time, any annoyance left alone too long becomes maddening, and the more minor the annoyance, the crazier it makes you.”In the Gas Giants episode Gong – The Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy, Gav set forth a theory of Prog: “The trap for Prog Rock that it must not fall into is that it end up being basically Chuck Berry carried out by grotesquely huge means. It has to have a certain amount of complexity otherwise it's just a lot of noodling and not actually very much content.”He explained that Prog makes Chuck Berry go on forever. “Wheres a Chuck Berry guitar solo would maybe be 40 or 30 seconds long, be very simple and to the point and actually really good, in the world of prog, if everything's gone wrong, it will be 18 minutes long.”Recordings, etc…A playlist of the main albums of the Ian Carr / Don Rendell Quintet that preceded Nucleus, with some additional material from other pre-Nucleus projectsHere’s one with most of the Nucleus studio albums, but sadly missing Out of The Long Dark and The Pretty Redhead.So there’s Out of the Long Dark…and here’s Awakening…Don’t look at it too long, it’ll make you lose your mind! The famous Vertigo Swirl, very much the stuff of legends…Interviews, Video, etc…Chris Spedding gives valuable insight into the beginning of Nucleus and why he left. We’ve put the interview, which is a long one, to the exact spot where he discusses this, but he’s an interesting guy and it is well worth listening to the whole thing. For guitar heads, there is also a discussion of equipment.In case you were curious after we’d spoken about both Pete Brown and Graham Bond, here they both are.Here’s another one set up for the exact moment when Nucleus is discussed, but the entire show is worth a look…Check out the Snakehips era band on German TV with a wildly enthusiastic Alexis Korner somehow in charge of the proceedings. Who knew he spoke German?This is maybe around the time of Under the Sun, a really great show in Norway. There is an interview at about the 27 minute mark.Do we recognise this?Oh Yes!Print, etc…* "Out Of The Long Dark", Alan Shipton's dry but at least factual account of Ian's Life* "Music Outside" Nobody wrote better about Ian Carr than Ian Carr, but this 1973 book, long out of print but now available in a 2nd edition, saves only the last chapter for an account of the founding of Nucleus and devotes the rest of the space to wonderful portraits of the British Musicians who were effectively trying to find a British identity in Jazz. Highly recommendedNucleus & Next, A Personal Odyssey, etc…The relaxed blues number, Easy Does It Now....and here's an early version of the Band, without Tom , playing a tune which was very much based on "Easy Does It Now". 1982, I Think…Was this ,perhaps…Visions Of Ra, the Next demo from December of 1983The origin of this bass line? Clue: This is the Christmas of 1983.Robert’s account of how Next happenedMy memory insists that in 1982 Gavin came to our youth orchestra rehearsals wearing a corduroy suit and a Paisley bow tie. Now I’m sure he didn’t, and I’m also pretty sure that this impression settled in over the years thanks to 1) an anecdote of James’s in which a 13- or maybe 14-year-old Gavin did indeed turn up to Sunday afternoon Crusaders classes in a green velvet suit, and 2) his uncanny resemblance at the time to television’s Doctor Jonathan Miller.At these rehearsals our Gav impressed me as being witty, self-confident and slightly eccentric, traits he displayed flamboyantly when he showed up at Glasgow Airport wearing a nipple-chafing gondolier’s t-shirt the day we jetted off on our life-changing world tour of Nuremberg. Needless to say, the rest of us were very Scottishly attired in v-necks and parkas, except for one poor guy, a low-ranking percussionist named Martin, who turned up in a cobalt blue three-piece suit bought by yokel parents expressly for his first time on a plane. Hilariously, a couple of years later this same percussionist quite unintentionally became the mainspring of no small amount of anguish for our Ken, because this chap Martin, you see, was at the time going steady with a hot-blooded young lass that Ken would subsequently and devotedly squire, and, from those very same times at the orchestra, you see, Ken just happened to be privy to the fact that Big Martin the drummer, his amatory predecessor, was appallingly well-endowed… well, it was never going to work.Anywa

Where to start with Sun Ra's massive discography? Tom & Gav have a suggestion... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Taking arms against a sea of mithering, Gav tries to convince a sceptical Tom of the worth of John Updike's 1981 novel. Did you read it? Write in and tell us how you got on! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Exposure - The Album* Before we even get started, massive respect is due to Eric Tamm, whose exhaustive work “Robert Fripp - From King Crimson to Guitar Craft” is available online HERE and was a big help in preparing this episode.As we explain in more detail, there are several versions of this album, but this is basically what the listener was presented with in 1979About the lyricist on Exposure, Discogs has this to say:* Joanna WaltonReal Name: Joan Sheree LichtensteinAmerican poet, born 26 December 1942 in New York, New York, New York. Lyricist and one-time girlfriend of Robert Fripp. In 1982, she married George L. Sheanshang. She was killed on 21 December 1988 in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, U.K.In the liner notes of the Roches 1989 album, Speak, Terre Roche wrote “to the memory” of Walton, with whom she had worked on Robert Fripp’s 1979 album, Exposure. HERE is another Fripp/Walton collaboration* * It’s worth heading over to YouTube for this half-hour video of Fripp being interviewed on something called “Boffomondo” in the middle of his tour promoting ExposureWhat Came Before…The later CD edit has the applause at the end of 21st Century Schizoid Man fading out gently; for the full force of the door being slammed in the audiences face, you have to go back to the vinyl version……but Fripp had already been collaborating with Brian Eno. This is one of Tom’s Favourites - …I think we all know about the David Bowie stuff, but did you know about this?…and everybody knows the second Peter Gabriel album, but had you heard this?…or even this? …which brings us to this. Fripp joins Blondie in a live performance of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love, which the best disco song ever. This was to be on Exposure but … record labels.…And what came after…The Promotional Tour…which is the bit that really interests us. Armed with a farcically small amount of money from the record company, the “Small Intelligent Mobile Unit” set off with a guitar and two tape recorders to promote his new album by playing music that wasn’t on the album in a selection of unusual venues…We both really love Hainbach, so here he is demonstrating how to do Frippertonics in the comfort of your own home.…and here’s a breathless reaction videoIt’s about time that the League of Gentlemen album was re-issuedSubscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Somewhere in a galaxy far away, there is a man behind the counter of a convenience store...join us for a jointly curated double bill of whacky comedy movies! *Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom & Gav look back in bewilderment at a year full of STUFF and ask what it all meant This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Join us for the round-up of Gav's 2023 Vinyl Haul! An annual Festive special for the record nerds amongst our listeners.Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Before the Matrix came The World on a Wire. Tom & Gav opt for a couple of quiet nights in with some mind-bending 70's television This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

What is Hauntology and are we all doing it without realising it? Tom & Gav climb aboard the Ghost Train for a trip through Mark Fisher's collection of essaysSubscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom & Gav meet at the confluence of Noise Music, Electronica and Religious MysticismSubscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

We would like to point out that the incidental music used in this episode is NOT by Jon Hassell, who never played the Bassoon…OK, let’s start here. This is a film of the night before the one that ended up on the record. …and here’s an interview with Hassell about the album that the concert was kind of based on.Here’s another live concert that Tom recommends……and, although this page is starting to get very YouTube video heavy, here is the album that got Gav into an altered state.* HERE is a link to Jon Hassell’s website.* HERE is Hassell’s obituary, which provides a succinct overview of his life and work.* …and here is Tom’s sampler -The Elephant and the Orchid - Power SpotVoiceprint (Blind From the Facts) - City: Works of FictionBuzzsaw - Bluescreen: Dressing for PleasureAbu Gil (Live) - Last Night the Moon Came Dropping its Clothes in the StreetCaravanesque - Jon Hassell & Ry Cooder: FascinomaViva Shona - Vernal EquinoxParis I - The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Things by the Power of SoundYou might have to look around for these, we’re not sure if all of them are available on the same platform. Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Eileen Chang's Short Story was made into a 2 1/2 hour film by Ang Lee....why?..and who was that mysterious lady with John the Baptists head?Subscribe to Gas Giants podcastRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

In their new jobs as concerned Microsoft technicians, Gav & and Tom need all your passwords and your bank details...welcome to the world of social engineering. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Ever needed to make a soufflé, treat snakebite or perform an exorcism? Chances are, you reached for a Youtube 'Splainer video! We discuss what this means culturally, but it's funnier than that, honest. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

That's The Way I Feel Now - Gav leads Tom through Hal Willner's 1984 Thelonius Monk tribute. Do you know this album? Have you listened to it as a result of listening to our podcast? Was Tom scared by Big Sid Catlett as a child? Write to us at gasgiants.substack.com and let us know!Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Throughout his career, Miles Davis contributed to five film projects, all of them very different. Taking Lift to the Scaffold, Jack Johnson, Siesta, The Hot Spot and Dingo into consideration, we examine the solutions he found with relation to the place that his music was at at each particular moment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

The recent inclusion of a Channel 4 documentary series from the early 90's in a music festival in Austin, Texas moved Gav & Tom to take a closer look... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

The arrival of the first English translation of a Brigitte Reimann novel 60 years after it was written seems as good a moment as any for Tom & Gav to take a closer look.1033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom & Gav indulge in a smorgasbord of all things Purple by linking Prince's first Film with Mdou Moctar's later vehicle.Tom's sampler playlist of Mdou Moctar on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrwNq6USRXjz7P0lDN-uqa7i4MCecaLbSubscribe to Gas Giants podcastRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Part Two of our eagerly awaited conversation with del Amitri sticksman Paul Tyagi. We catch up with him as he talks us through the ups and downs of touring America on no money, the aesthetic conundrum of the mid 1980's and his final assessment of the first album.Subscribe to Gas Giants podcastRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Part 1 of our conversation with Paul Tyagi, drummer with Del Amitri for most of the 1980. This episode brings us from formation of the band to their departure for America in 1986. Join us next episode for Part 2.Subscribe to Gas Giants podcastRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom and Gav listen to the astonishing BBC radio drama adaptation of Len Deighton's Bomber.Subscribe to Gas GiantsRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

These are pretty paranoid times we're in right now...There must be some way to get out of here, said the...wait a minute...weren't we here before? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

J.G.Ballard's High Rise was recently made into a compelling film, but Tom & Gav go back to the book to say "There goes the neighbourhood" This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

German Art Rockers Einstürzende Neubauten once attacked the Stage at London's ICA in a search for secret tunnels. Tom & Gav examine their penultimate album and ask; are they still trying to find a way out? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom & Gav count themselves lucky to have been around when Composer/Author/Linguist/Critic/ all round Ninja in the culture wars Anthony Burgess was still alive and creating. In this episode they use one of Burgess's books to try to get to the bottom of why he was so appealing and what message he still has for today's troubled times This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

A 2nd attempt to publish this podcast episode. The 1st didn’t push out to the podcast apps. Please visit this substack page for all the extras. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Surely a collaboration between an excellent Hard-Bop trumpet player and a composer of electronic music should have something for everyone? Tom & Gav compare notes on multi-media productions in general and Freddie Hubbard's 1971 album with Ilhan Mimaroglu in particular This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Gav and Tom complete their brief survey of Art Documentaries with an Examination of Banksy's 2010 adventure in celluloid. Is there anything at the centre of the onion? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Whether you're chilling the champers or just chilling at home, the Gas Giants: Tall, Dark and , (in a certain light) handsome are chapping on your door to be your first foot! Lump of coal optional. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4CkRkv6nA_kK7EE_uYPjnQkM-Qu0T4tZSeeing as it's Christmas, Gav reveals to Tom the full depths of his record buying habit. Above is a playlist of tracks from all of the albums which had to be on YouTube as not everything is available on Spotify. A groove this funky must be on the run! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

What was the KLF's deal? Are we any closer to working it out? Join Tom and Gav as they rake through the embers of a burnt million pounds and discover The Wicker Man, the 1973 Brit horror film (that surely inspired The KLF's Jura journo party) starting Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, and Christopher Lee. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

Tom and Gav break a lance for a writer that they both admire; is Kurt Vonnegut well served by the latest Documentary about him? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com