Eruditorum Press

Less organic intellectuals than morbid symptoms

James Murphy

About James Murphy

Posts by James Murphy:

Pop Could Never Save Us – 01R

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The popcast, which we proudly introduced you to last week in its usual modern form, returns for its first time-bending trip into the Victorian cyberpunk HG Wells time machine for a look back in the charts in 1959. Holly has done an incredible and extraordinary job putting a unique listening experience together and it’s our pleasure to invite you to come hang out and take a look back at a period which has both great music and context to add to the era we’re enduring.

You can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and anchor.fm and you can still find that first, 2023 based episode (where we analyse the modern charts) which people have been very kind about. Jump on it!

We are @jameslatrmurphy and @fireh9lly on twitter. …

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Pop Could Never Save Us – 001

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We are very proud to present the launch of the brand new podcast, ‘Pop Could Never Save Us‘! This is a show all about the Top 5 songs in the UK at the moment and the charts in general. Finally, a pop show for you.

Perfect for forcing some form of common ground between yourself and the sulking young people in your life – particularly if you’re a sulking young person yourself – we cover RAYA, Taylor, venbee, SZA, and Trainor. We also talk about TikTok viral hits by Lady Gaga and Eminem, as you join us chatting in the kitchen of the best party you’ve ever been to.

We are @jameslatrmurphy and @fireh9lly on Twitter.

…

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The Rising of the Moon

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I. 

Fuck this. Fuck waiting for this bastard. Does he think I’m his plaything?

What does he think he’s doing, leaving me in a shithole of a pub, with its corny decorations and stench of old men’s farts? I get enough funny looks as it is. There’s no such thing as a danger-free day in my line but today, in particular, is a bad one.

No, I’m not having this. I’m going to slam this glass onto the bar and get out of here. My nerves are jangling inside me. Above my head are hung flags from all over the world. I manage not to sneer. I pull my heavy jacket on and go outside to the South London street.

There’s traffic noise, and off-licences, and corner shops with rotting fruit sitting in bowls on rain-battered tables outside. Grey and lifeless. I want to go home. I lean up against the sick-yellow exterior of the pub and wish I could light a fag. I settle for re-applying my lipstick. I look up. They’ve only decorated the outside of this place with a ridiculous Guinness themed clock, with the pints looking like blushing, happy faces. I swear to God. I could puke.

There’s a man on the other side of the road, resting his bulk against the black pole which holds up the traffic light. He’s watching me; and not casually. He isn’t looking through or around me, but intently at me, to see what I do next. I feel the hair on my arms stand up. I feel an urge to run across the road, weave around the speeding cars, and rip the bastard’s throat out. But no. No. This is not a time to be drawing any attention to myself. It’s cold. I put on my hat and slope over to the side street.

The paranoia, or sixth sense, or whatever it is, that I’ve been wearing all day as surely as I’m wearing this jacket, starts to lift – but just a little bit. I feel the solidness of the pub’s pebble dashed wall as I lean back. Alright. This has all gone wrong somewhere. That’s fine. Cut our losses, report back to the bosses, reconvene for another day.

The bin, a big, blue, plastic rectangle, to my left moves. The man’s there, the expression on his moustached face showing me he’s got something to say. He sidles closer to me trying to keep the eye contact I’m avoiding. He smells like the police.

He says my name. He’s got a voice like a strangled Goose and an accent from what my old man, til his dying day, called Persia. The cunt says my name again.

“Fuck off.” I say and turn to walk away.

Self importance is filling his voice as he asks, out loud, for the third time, if I’m me.

“Never heard of the bitch.” I say, moving on. I can hear his pace quicken behind me. The tension in me is turning to anger, irrational, uncontrollable.…

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MacGowan Songs: 01 – The Old Main Drag

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The Old Main Drag

The song starts with the sustained drone of an accordian note. It sounds like a horn ringing out across the docks, telling the roustabouts they have to get to work. A winding, driving banjo figure begins a semi-reel which leads into light, fairy-winged acoustic guitar strumming. Then comes Shane’s voice, matter of fact, mobile, and comparatively young sounding.

When I first came to London I was only sixteen
With a fiver in my pocket and my old dancing bag
I went down to the Dilly to check out the scene
And I soon ended up on the old main drag

“The Dilly” is Picadilly Circus, a main thoroughfare in Central London and the heart of the tube network. At the time of the song’s writing, it was the British equivalent to Times Square in New York, dangerous, dirty, and filled with rats. Today, with gentrification, it’s the equivalent to 21st century Times Square. It’s clean, Disneyfied, and a great place to buy Royal Wedding merchandise.

The song details a nihilistic descent into homelessness, drug addiction, and sex work. From the 1970s onwards, the London that MacGowan begrudgingly called home saw homelessness rise exponentially as neoliberal policies were implemented first, with sad eyes and apologetic shrugs by a dying Labour government at the behest of the International Monetary Fund as security on a multi-billion pound loan, and then with gleeful abandon by Margaret Thatcher’s government, stripping the needy of the services that the public had funded through taxation and funnelled up to the wealthiest. The people at the bottom, on the ground, suffered. Almost nothing, as has been proven again and again, trickles down.

When fame and riches came his way, Shane MacGowan, skinny and underdressed for the bitter winter nights, could be found on the streets of London, desperately pulling bundles of twenty pound notes from his pockets and pushing them into the hands of those on the streets. His attitude was, considering his own alcoholism and drug abuse, “there but for the Grace of God go I.” Through imagination and observation, he sends the listener this missive from the bottom rung. Unlike the joyless sanctimony of Ralph McTell’s Streets of London, which rings with paternalistic pity, Shane knows enough to be able to hint at the escape that the early days of a dead end lifestyle can offer and even some of the pleasure that can be found at the bottom of the heap before forces out of your control overwhelm you. Shane has described himself, in an effort to contextualise his songwriting, as a journalist and this song is one of his best claims on that title.

There the he-males and the she-males paraded in style
And the old man with the money would flash you a smile

Reportedly, The Old Main Drag was one of the first songs written for the band (hence its position at the opening of this project) so this is one of Shane’s earliest references to the LGBT experience. True to form, he uses politically incorrect language mixed with a prurient interest in what he perceives to be the interestingly subversive sexual activities of gay men topped off with compassion with their shared humanity.…

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56: The Edge of Destruction, or, like being hit, but without any pain.

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In this new and exciting episode of your favourite podcast, James and a being made entirely of caffeine in the vague jittery shape of Kevin catch up with a freewheelin’ chat that takes in the recent Joss Whedon shittiness, TARGET books as an intelligent investment, Glenn Greenwald, and of course the EDGE OF DESTRUCTION. Find out what they thought herein:

https://pexlives.libsyn.com/56-the-edge-of-destruction-or-like-being-hit-but-without-any-pain…

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Pex Lives 55: The Brain of Morbius, or, you chicken brained biological disaster

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Yes, like a reanimated corpse, Pex Lives still lives and, after all these years, the boys still have yet to miss a step, defying the critics and amazing the listeners.

In this episode, your friends bring you the REAL LOWDOWN on the recent Gamestop events, INCISIVE commentary on a classic Doctor Who serial (which they both genuinely loved) and POSIT solutions to the era’s burning issues.

https://pexlives.libsyn.com/55-the-brain-of-morbius-or-you-chicken-brained-biological-disaster

It’s your party and we’re damn glad to have you with us.…

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Your Favourite Audio

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I’m delighted to share the most exciting news of February. The eagerly awaited return of, and the link to, the new episode of Pex Lives.Kevin and I talk – for free, I’ll remind you, we’re just giving this stuff away – about the Peter Davison serial Kinda. Classic stuff to keep you company as you tidy that filthy hovel you call a home or commute to that job you can tolerate, or during the job itself, or however you listen to podcasts. i don’t know, you can do as you please. But it is lovely to be able to continue to sit down with Kevin and still be chatting nonsense at eachother about our favourite show after all these years. In this episode, Kevin binds me to a promise to write erotic Tegan focused Dr Who fanfiction when I get 50 patreon supporters. So, that’ll be a thing I spend my time doing.

http://pexlives.libsyn.com/44-kinda-or-the-not-we-must-know

Lee Russell is one of my best damn friends in the world and our Amicus podcast is excellent. Late last night, while recording an upcoming Wrong With Authority, my tongue slipped and I embarrassingly called him Lee Daniel. I don’t know who Lee Daniel is, but I’m sure he’s nice too. This is me and Lee, one of the most underrated characters out there on the internet, somewhere beyond the grave.

http://pexlives.libsyn.com/city-of-the-dead-18-from-beyond-the-grave

Speaking of WWA – the show about films which purport to be about historical events but which usually prove, on closer inspection, to be a catacomb of pointless lies – we’re starting to pick up a little bit of steam and get them out more quickly. We consider ourselves a supergroup, which means we often find ourselves wearing tights on dark city streets, slick with rain. The latest episode was hosted by me, which means I didn’t have to think very much and let my very clever friends be interesting as I asked probing questions like “What you think of movie? Good movie? Good.” Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.

http://wrongwithauthority.libsyn.com/wwa-ep7-gangs-of-new-york

I’ll close this out with a plug for a patreon. Not my patreon, no, not the one over here https://www.patreon.com/jimslater  where you can get exclusive content from me for as little as a dollar a month, including very early drafts of the novel I’m writing with Kit Power and audio stuff. No, I’d collapse at such gauchery. I want you all to know that the man Daniel Harper has a Patreon and he is doing invaluable work researching the alt-right. Let me inject a note of seriousness into this post – Daniel is learning more than any of your favs about the fascists and fashish online and it is hardgoing work. Help look after a man who, I believe, will be vindicated in years to come for a far-seeing, far reaching project that will shine real light on where we are, how we got here, and where the racists will take us next.

https://www.patreon.com/danielharper

 

Alright. Thank you very much for your attention. Thanks to Phil for continuing to allow me an amplifier on his site.…

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The Vault of Horror and the Ambassadors of Death

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It’s November, a time of complicated anniversaries. Of Octobers that became Novembers and barrels of gunpowder left in the bowels of a building that fire would eradicate in a couple hundred years anyway, sadly emptied of the fat landowners and wealth horders of the day. We’ve had Samhain and All Hallow’s Eve and the fields are asleep until the planting time.

Perfect for watching the rain hit your windowpanes and relaxing in the warm with some audio goodness.

I’m very pleased to be able to finally announce the return of Pex Lives.

http://pexlives.libsyn.com/41-the-ambassadors-of-death-or-i-dont-believe-in-them-thats-why

Kevin and I talk here about The Seventh Seal, Jodie Whitaker, the Ambassadors of Death, personal hypocrisies and much more. It’s good to be back. Kevin seems to have recorded on location from a cathedral of furious wolves, so that’s something.

Also very happy to have a new City of the Dead, the podcast Lee and I do about every Amicus film. We’re actually nearing the end of this journey so jump onboard while you still can. One of the things I love about CotD is that it isn’t a show that demands a huge time investment of the listener but can still get some great, fun analysis done and be a cool place to hang out. Come hang out with us for a cup of coffee.

http://pexlives.libsyn.com/city-of-the-dead-16-the-vault-of-horror

Finally, though it isn’t out yet, I’ve got an episode of the Last Exit Show recorded that’ll be coming down the pike. It’s a show I’ve been doing with my friend, New York Times and Vanity Fair writer, Kaleb Horton. He makes me laugh more than anyone in the world. Check out our back catalogue here.

http://lastexit.libsyn.com/

As ever, you can find exclusive audio and written content from me at my patreon and help all this podcasting stuff happen by supporting me for only $1.00 a month. I’d be ever so grateful. Check out the free stuff on there, see if you’d want more of that kind of thing. I think you would. It helps me not get devoured by my frankly horrible minimum wage job.

https://www.patreon.com/jimslater

Cheers, until next time.…

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I Just Can’t Help Podcastin’

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You find me, EP readers, in the midst of my annual Elvis Kick, the time of the year where, werewolf like, the Presley geek within rises and takes the wheel for about six months. Hence the title of this post, a kinda play on Jumpsuit Elvis’ I Just Can’t Help Believin’, the BJ Thomas cover I’m playing and replaying at an aggressively antisocial volume.

(“We all immediately understood that, James! Don’t talk down to us, the audience! And don’t anticipate our reaction within the body of the text, who do you think you are? Jim Gaffigan?”)

Alright, the business of the day. Lots of fun and unusual bullets in my arsenal this time out.

Kevin and I haven’t yet had the chance to reconvene in my podcast marriage, Pex Lives, after how we spent our summer vacation, but, barring a terrible catastrophe, we’re all go for Sunday, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for that one. We pride ourselves on being scheduling geniuses and have, let me be clear, never made any ridiculous mistakes around a) the clocks changing, or whether GMT is all year round, b) which weekend “Next weekend” means, c) one of us going on the drink when we intended to record. I’m very excited.

I continue to be a proud part of Wrong With Authority and all its footnotes and spin-offs. I recently recorded a commentary with the big brother I never had, Kit Power, while I was operating at about 60% with a malignant hangover. We had drank whiskey and watched a full Bruce Springsteen show on DVD the night before, but the hangover had nothing to do with that. We talked 1931’s Frankenstein, a film that will forever hold a powerful spell over me. I think it’s a good listen.

http://wrongwithauthority.libsyn.com/footnote-3-frankenstein-1931

I’ve got two new episodes of City of the Dead to tell you about, with the still-fresh co-host Mr Lee Russell. I’m a huge Lee fan, as I’ll tell anyone, whether they be a friend online like yourself, or a stranger unfortunate enough to sit next to me on a long train ride. He’s simply one of the best podcasters in the business, as far as I’m concerned, and would be pulling down Adam Carolla money if this world’s laughable claims to be a meritocracy were true. We’re still journeying through the Amicus filmography and quietly plotting future moves. I’ve relaxed on mic with him now and the show’s really coming out nice. 

http://pexlives.libsyn.com/city-of-the-dead-14-asylum

http://pexlives.libsyn.com/city-of-the-dead-15-tales-from-the-crypt

Speaking of the astonishingly underrated, I spoke with my good friend and drinking buddy, Ric, a Squid From Space, on 2017’s horror graphic novel House of Penance.

http://pexlives.libsyn.com/panel-talk-with-ric-house-of-penance

And, in the most unexpected turn, at the start of the year I had the pleasure of sharing a microphone with Jersey’s most charming man and talk about the genuinely interesting philosophy, racial politics of a long-ignored phenomenon, the Mr Men books. I’ve been sitting on this one for a while because my recording set-up was kinda fucked at the time, but I listened back and I think that this is a great leap into the imaginative worlds of children’s fiction and the questions that simply go unasked.…

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