In praise of: the new Quietus anthology

The Quietus is a website I have a huge amount of admiration for. Like Drowned In Sound, they retain a fierce credibility and some fine depth to their writing – two things I don’t see much elsewhere at present (he writes, gazing in the direction of the NME…). I religiously read the priceless “Horns Up Ya Shitters!” metal column, as its now become the singular source for the best metal releases each month (to the point where it leaves me missing the Black Friday Radio Show I once hosted on ResonanceFM – to date possibly still the only ever drive-time black metal show). Beyond that though, I don’t check the site as much as I should. Not for any reason – just life gets in the way. No great excuses, that’s just how it is.

I was delighted then to discover that they have just issued an anthology of articles from their first five years as an e-book for Kindle. I purchased it yesterday evening, and I’ve only been dragged away from it since by life once again getting in the way. This anthology has some great articles and, put simply, I cannot recommend it enough. Whether its Quietus co-founder Luke Turner berating the baby boomers, Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess writing about the pitfalls of authoring his second book or – my current favourite – Bad Seed Warren Ellis writing about his fashion tastes and penchant for a fine pair of shoes, this has a brilliant spread of pieces covering all manner of topics.

There’s another angle to this though, which I feel warrants a mention. To me, this is one of those painfully simple yet brilliant ideas. Sales from the book will help The Quietus stay afloat, and ensure these great articles keep coming. Rounding up the best writing on the site is perfect for those of us who maybe don’t see every piece as its published. This is something you can take on holiday and read on the beach – something I’ve just done plenty of whilst away taking a break in Spain.

So, do check it out. The writing is broad in nature and brilliant at every turn. Its a collection that makes you wish there were more like it. Therein lies the irony: there should be more like it, so I sincerely hope this starts a movement wherein the likes of Drowned In Sound and other such sources of decent writing also follow suit. They should; their articles deserve it.