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David Lowery of Cracker has been getting lots of attention for his long verbal kicking of an idiot. The short version: a girl boasted about never paying for music, and Lowery basically told her that when you download, you’re forcing musicians to kill themselves. I think both sides are rather overwrought here, so hurrah for… [more]
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If any of you have been to arena gigs recently, you might be able to answer my question: where’s the bass? It’s a genuine question: bass guitars are good, but unless you’ve actually got your chin on the stage it’s pretty much impossible to hear them at arena gigs. The rockier the band, the worse… [more]
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According to an Amazon.co.uk email, if you liked CD you’ll like Chris Brookmyre’s When The Devil Drives and Where The Bodies Are Buried, Iain Banks’ Stonemouth, and Bateman’s Turbulent Priests. Thanks to Jamie Thompson for sending it to me: he’s right, the recommendations are unlikely to be reciprocated… [more]
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I’ve written a wee guide to Apple’s latest mobile OS, iOS 6, which comes out this autumn. [more]
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Me on Techradar: the most annoying things non-geeks ask you to do. …while technology is absolutely everywhere, not everyone who’s bought it knows how to use it or what to do when it goes wrong. That’s where we come in, whether we like it or not: as far as friends, family and co-workers are concerned… [more]
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Me, in PC Plus, writing about building PCs: As I blundered around the kitchen, wailing, bumping into things, shooting jets of bright red blood all over the cupboards and shouting “WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BLOODY PLASTERS?” it’s safe to say that my wife wasn’t thinking “Ooh! Now that’s sexy!” [more]
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Sometimes I think there just aren’t enough songs about robots, so imagine my delight when I discovered that Maple Leaves’ new song is about… robots! But also, it’s about people! Damned clever, these pop types. If you’re in or around Glasgow, the EP launch is on Saturday (26 May) at Stereo. I’m gutted that I… [more]
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I’m very proud of that headline, you know. Anyway! Waterstones! Kindles! Me! Techradar! Imagine there’s a serial killer at the door. He’s already killed and eaten the rest of the street, and now he fancies getting his gums on your bum. Do you (a) grab as many sharp things as you can to fight him… [more]
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Here’s an interesting one: a study that suggests Amazon reviews are just as reliable as newpaper ones, for non-fiction at least. I agree entirely, although I reserve the right to edit this post if people start posting one-star jobs… Although the study points out that there is “virtually no quality assurance” in Amazon’s consumer reviews,… [more]
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A wee milestone today: I’ve shifted my 25,000th ebook. That’s over 11,000 sales and nearly 14,000 freebies, and it’s almost entirely Coffin Dodgers on the Kindle. I’ll wait until the end of the month to share the in-depth numbers, but it’s clear that freebie day number two hasn’t had anywhere near the same effect as… [more]
Read me in books
My debut memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was a Scotsman book of the year and Damian Barr’s Literary Salon book of the week, and it was shortlisted for the 2023 British Book Awards book of the year in the Discover category.
My latest book, Small Town Joy, is a celebration of queer influences on and queer artists in Scots music and is out now.
I’m also a contributor to the excellent anthology Fierce Salvage, which is also out now.
