I always think of Stan’s Cafe as pretty much mainstream entertainment, it is only occasionally that something exposes this delusion.

Couple of weeks ago the Guardian reviewed Iain Sinclair’s new book Ghost Milk. the review contains this passage:

To me that reads as a standard piece of prose. Whist initially I thought this fact revealed I poses an innate alternative mindset, on reflection I came instead to realise that the reviewer was right earlier in his review when he notes that readers must learn to read Iain Sinclair’s prose and I have read a great deal.

The poet Alan Hay first recommended I investigate Iain Sinclair way back around 1994. I read Downriver which strongly influenced the making of Voodoo City and in a more gentle, subtle way Ocean of Storms. Later White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings, perhaps my favorite of his works, fed the fire and probably helped out Be Proud of Me along with the messy but occasionally brilliant Radon Daughters. The poetry collectionsLud Heat and also opened things up. Lights Out For The Territory , Rodinsky’s Room and London Orbital have followed and I have started to think I may have read enough in this direction. Iain Sinclair has probably served his purpose for Stan’s Cafe and helped recalibrate what we regard as Standard Mainstream.