Posts

Showing posts from March, 2021

My Interview Series With English Pop Rebels and Outsiders for 'Albion's Secret History'

Image
As part of the release of Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders' I was honoured to get to interview some of the visionary English artists I discuss in the book and I'm so glad to hear the series has just had its 20,000th view!  The chapter on Gary Numan is entitled ' Interzones, Edgelands, Psykick Dancehalls and Shamans: Gary Numan, Joy Division and Mark E. Smith '. In our discussion Gary and I discussed the putting together of the Numan persona, his unpublished fiction that informed it, and his experiences of fame. You can watch the interview here . Gary was an absolute gent and we talked about everything from synths to ghosts. It was so much fun to chat to Kate Jackson about her art, our shared love of British Railway Stations and her work with Suede's genius guitarist Bernard Butler.  My interview with her can be found here . The interview series concluded with me chatting to Gazelle Twin, recently the subject of Tim Bur

Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders is published today

Image
'With such an array of talent and with forays into film, literature and comedy, the running themes Mankowski draws from his varied subjects are as ambitious as they are thrilling...the way Mankowski uses them to ignite his thesis is intriguing and fresh. This book is about celebrating the unsung, and Mankowski has a knack for succinctly articulating what makes each one so special. The perfect banishing spell for the ghosts currently plaguing England.' Maria Schurr, Pop Matters ‘Polishing minute details and allowing them to shimmer from the page and re-colour our own faded memories – that’s what Mankowski does best. That he achieves the same effect with some of the people and events from history is an excellent achievement…It is, in fact, as if a musician is performing a medley of favourite tracks alongside some moments of deeply impassioned improvisation…Exceptional…some magnificent passages… There is something for everyone in this compilation…Albion’s Secret History  is one fo