Alan Moore's Unearthing, a story of ancient London and Steve Moore
May 13, 2013 8:08 PM Subscribe
For your listening pleasure: Unearthing, an audio project by Alan Moore, with musical accompaniment from a "rock supergroup," to tell a vivid story of Shooter's Hill and one of its residents, Steve Moore (not related to Alan, but a long-time friend).
Alan Moore's story came about with a pitch from a pulp paperback house to Iain Sinclair. The publisher was looking for a compiled London book, but once Sinclair got thinking on it, he decided it had to be more interesting than digging up old stories. Sinclair gathered and works from 59 authors, with many excellent contributions as well as inevitable omissions. The anthology was titled London: City of Disappearances, and Moore wrote on the history of an area, as well as a man, in the novella titled Unearthing. According to a Book Court review, Moore's contribution was "the most outstanding fiction in the whole book."
That anthology came out in 2006, and in 2010, there was the audio collaboration between Alan Moore and Crook&Flail, the duo of Fog's Andrew Broder and Adam Drucker, better known as abstract rapper Doseone, with additional contributions by Mike Patton, Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite, Jesu/Godflesh frontman Justin Broadrick, and prolific drum-wrecker Zach Hill, of Hella and other bands. Moore also performed parts of the story live. Both the studio recording and the live shows recalled Alan Moore's earliest performances, when he read poetry as a teenager, as discussed in an interview with Wired.
Most recently, the story was published as a (photo)graphic story, featuring photography by Mitch Jenkins. Some of the photos were included in the deluxe edition of the audio story.
Alan Moore's story came about with a pitch from a pulp paperback house to Iain Sinclair. The publisher was looking for a compiled London book, but once Sinclair got thinking on it, he decided it had to be more interesting than digging up old stories. Sinclair gathered and works from 59 authors, with many excellent contributions as well as inevitable omissions. The anthology was titled London: City of Disappearances, and Moore wrote on the history of an area, as well as a man, in the novella titled Unearthing. According to a Book Court review, Moore's contribution was "the most outstanding fiction in the whole book."
That anthology came out in 2006, and in 2010, there was the audio collaboration between Alan Moore and Crook&Flail, the duo of Fog's Andrew Broder and Adam Drucker, better known as abstract rapper Doseone, with additional contributions by Mike Patton, Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite, Jesu/Godflesh frontman Justin Broadrick, and prolific drum-wrecker Zach Hill, of Hella and other bands. Moore also performed parts of the story live. Both the studio recording and the live shows recalled Alan Moore's earliest performances, when he read poetry as a teenager, as discussed in an interview with Wired.
Most recently, the story was published as a (photo)graphic story, featuring photography by Mitch Jenkins. Some of the photos were included in the deluxe edition of the audio story.
The deluxe box set is fun, as it includes a "manually printed" transcript from a dot-matrix printer, with pages unbroken and the perforated edges intact.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:10 AM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:10 AM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
I listened to this album one night while driving up the extremely dark and windy roads of Big Sur at 3 AM, and it was a pretty mystical experience.
posted by whir at 7:26 AM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by whir at 7:26 AM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
I recently got the massive Unearthing hardcover but have yet to read it... I didn't know about the audio origins -- thanks!
Moore-heads should also know that The From Hell Companion just came out. Can The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic be far behind? (spoiler: yes.)
posted by Zed at 7:27 AM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
Moore-heads should also know that The From Hell Companion just came out. Can The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic be far behind? (spoiler: yes.)
posted by Zed at 7:27 AM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
with pages unbroken and the perforated edges intact
With the years of latent OCD I've built up since I got my first inkjet, those perfed edges would be turned into paper snakes faster than you could say "Glycon."
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:30 AM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
With the years of latent OCD I've built up since I got my first inkjet, those perfed edges would be turned into paper snakes faster than you could say "Glycon."
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:30 AM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
I listened to this album one night while driving up the extremely dark and windy roads of Big Sur at 3 AM, and it was a pretty mystical experience.
That sounds like an excellent way to experience this story. The blend of the words, Moore's voice, and the intermittent "soundtrack" are enthralling.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:29 AM on May 14, 2013
That sounds like an excellent way to experience this story. The blend of the words, Moore's voice, and the intermittent "soundtrack" are enthralling.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:29 AM on May 14, 2013
The Believer - Interview with Alan Moore
posted by homunculus at 6:59 PM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 6:59 PM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
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posted by Jimbob at 9:11 PM on May 13, 2013