6345789...

Released on October, 1979, this, The Undertones fifth single release, is quite possibly their best. And that's it...take it away, the boys.

..world without end, or beginning....

The writer and academic, Frank Kermode will soon be entering his ninetieth year. Kermode has long been recognised as one of this country's most distinguished Shakespearean scholars - his body of work on the bard himself runs to several volumes; all of which employ his characteristically readable, yet authoritative style. Kermode uses the same clarity of thought and breadth of vision throughout all of his writing - whether discussing the poetry of Donne or Spenser or life and literature itself - as in his classic 1967 book,'The sense of an ending.' Frank Kermode is rare indeed in the world of contemporary letters; unique in his ability to transmute difficult concepts and ideas into something more navigable - it is this that separates him from most academicians of his generation; that, and his desire to fully embrace new ideas, new philosophies, and to embrace them as part of his celebrated new criticism.

Don't be a stranger, now..

Taichi Yamada is one of Japan's foremost writers - of fiction, scripts for television and films, and for the stage. His work has only recently gained recognition in the UK with the 2006 publication of his novel, 'Strangers.' Subsequent novels have followed: in 2007, 'In search of a distant voice,' and, one year later, 'I haven't dreamed of flying for a while.' Yamada's works concern themselves with guilt and loss; and the accompanying longing that acts as a stylised entreaty throughout all of his translated works. Japanese society, as also depicted in the work of other writers - Murakami, Nakagami, Suzuki even Mishima, is implicitly criticised, through the respective narratives and characterisations employed, for its suppressive and subjugative effects on individual will/society as a whole. The books are wonderful examples of 'kaidan;' essentially, old fashioned Japanese ghost stories - and the greater for that.