4.52am Alternative Xmas Guide 2016

AN ALTERNATIVE XMAS
The Best Guitar Bobbins From 2016
I would like to welcome you to our first ever gift guide, and all who sail in her.
It wasn’t something we honestly expected to do, but with the prospect of another year of
trying to look happy whilst opening Strat-shaped Kitchen Utensils, those things you use to
cut plectrums (plectrae?) out of your maxed-out Credit Cards and yet another String
Winder and Lemon Oil Beauty set from Ebay, we figured if we didn’t do something, who
would?
But we didn’t want it to be the normal run-of-the-mill stuff, just some great ideas at a
variety of prices that perhaps you can point your Gran at.
So, what have we got?
Well, there are quite a few things that have appeared in 4.52am already this year of
course, and we’ve done the annual ‘Gear of the Year’ thing here and there too, but there
are also some awesome albums, cool books and who knows what else.
If nothing else, it makes a change from the Argos catalogue.
Enjoy!
All at 4.52am
p.s. There is also a no holly guarantee. There is quite enough of that bobbins around
already.

JOHNNY MARR
Set The Boy Free
If there is one book every guitarist should
read this year, it is the long-awaited and
much heralded Set The Boy Free from
the living legend that is Mr J.Marr.
I really don’t feel that I need to say too
much, but whether you were a Smiths fan
or just love guitar music, this isn’t your
usual by-numbers celebrity
autobiography as like his playing, Johnny
takes his own direction and makes things
hard for himself.
And that of course has always been his
calling card – he doesn’t play a Jaguar
now and didn’t play a Rickenbacker
then to look cool, instead it was about
imposing limitations that he had to work
around. In the same way, he didn’t play
simple chords, he inverted them every
which way until he could squeeze
something original out of them, and it
has always been the way of things, and
so it is with his book now. He could

have glossed over things, but it isn’t in
his nature. And that has always been his
greatest strength, he is ‘For Real’ in
every way, and isn’t likely to do things
just because they are expected, or in the
case of a Smiths resurrection, dreamt of.
That of cause is the measure of whether
somebody like Johnny is a true artist or
not, or whether the fires are burned out,
and you get the feeling through the
telling and the albums he is writing and
touring now, which are some of the
strongest of his career, that there is
plenty in the tank, and this boy isn’t going
to be nobody’s heritage act. Not now, not
never.
Johnny Marr’s Set The Boy Free is
available HERE
.

LUKE HAINES
Smash The System
It was in the first issue of 4.52am that we
stuck our necks out and proclaimed the
stunning Smash The System as our Album
of the Year for 2016 and it’s genius creator
Luke Haines as a newly minted saint, and
these long months later we haven’t changed
our opinion at all.
This is a sumptuous collection of archaic,
strange and downright crazymama songs
that you will listen to for the remainder of
your life and still find yourself mulling
over as your final sands fade away.
You can buy a copy HERE

THORPYFX
Gunshot Overdrive
When we were trying our best to find the
best Overdrive in the world ever, we took
quite a scientific approach and had piles
of the things all over the place.
We selected them in pairs, choosing the
best of the two, and disregarding the
worst, carrying on for days whilst our
tinnitus kicked into gears previously
unknown and we whittled the list down to
the final contenders.
We really should have kept a list, it would
have made interesting reading.
Needless to say that after all of that due
process, it was the all kinds of
awesome ThorpyFX Gunshot that
turned out to not only look as though it
could withstand as many apocalypses
as you like, but was the best sounding
by a stolen mile.
And so the Gunshot is our Overdrive of
2016, which is pretty cool, let’s face it.
You can get your own HERE

WILL HESSEY
Wave Goodbye
It is rare in these End of Year thingies to
see somebody that hasn’t been on Jools’
show or even played tennis with Rossy
and Gervais, but then sometimes it is
good to be able to point out who is going
to do great things in the near future rather
than the distant past. And in Will Hessey
who we talked to a little while ago in
4.52am, we are really pleased to point the
finger and claim for all to hear that he is
our official ‘4.52am Great Big Hope For
2017’ and if you disagree, you haven’t
heard his cool songs, and if you have
heard them and still disagree, well you
have cloth ears and no place in my
home – be gone.
Will Hessey is all kinds of wicked, go
check him out HERE and then next
year when he has a Mercury Prize you
can look really smug about it.

SIMON REYNOLDS
Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy
Sometimes a book comes along that
people, usually friends of the author,
claim defines a genre. It is quite an
impressive claim and always looks good
on the posters in the London
Underground. To quote the mighty
Shania, ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’.
Sometimes though, there is a spark of
truth in it, and those are quite special and
unusual books. Few and far between,
and all the more important for it.
But only a spark – let’s be fair, how can a
single book define anything?
Well, that was what I thought until I sat
down to read Simon Reynolds’ (who I
should say I have never knowingly met)
opus on Glam Rock, in all its shiny shiny
silverness and space age funky 12-bar
glory, when the scales fell from my
eyes and I realised that I had been
living a lie all along. For Mr Reynold’s
book not only defines that time of
excessive Bowie-driven musical
discovery, but does it with style,
humour and grace and with a way with
words that is a pleasure to hear inside
your head. So yes, this book is better
than you could ever imagine, historic
whilst being entertaining, brilliant whilst
being cool. This man Reynolds, he is a
bit of a special writer, you really need to
read this.
You can treat yourself or somebody
you like more to Shock and Awe: Glam
Rock and Its Legacy HERE.

DIAMOND BOTTLENECKS
Ultimate Slide
I hate to admit that I’m am the definitive,
awful slide guitar player. Oh I can
manage the classic opener to Texas’ I
Don’t Wanna Lover but that is about as
good as it gets.
There is however one advantage my
innate uselessness gives me though and
that is that I have tried just about every
slide that is currently available to
mankind. I’ve tried brass tubes, sockets,
old pig knuckles (that was more of an
accident), pill boxes, you name it, but until
I finally happened upon Diamond
Bottlenecks, there wasn’t even a hope for
me.
And over the years, I have had a few of
their ‘Original’ slides, and really rather
good they were too, but it wasn’t until I
tried their ‘Ultimate’, that I realised I
was missing a trick, as these things
really are amazing. Stunning even.
Not only to look at, although as it
spends quite a bit of time on the
mantelpiece, that doesn’t hurt
politically in local terms, but there is just
something about it that is right. It is
ultra-smooth, which is cool, the weight
is nice too – you can feel it but it never
becomes a problem, but there is that
little indefinable otherness that you can
only truly understand when you try one.
And try one you should.
Find out more, and there are loads of
options to be had, HERE, and thank me
later.

SIMPLE MINDS
Acoustic
We had a lovely chat with Charlie Burchill
of Simple Minds a few issues ago in
4.52am, and the band’s new album,
Acoustic, taking the classic Unplugged
formula and doing it their own way, has
exploded, seeing the band appear
everywhere from Strictly Come Dancing
to the cover of 4.52am and not even in
that order.
I know, career highlights both.
The great thing is that as ever Simple
Minds have done it their own way, with
their usual attention to detail and their reexamining
of some of their old songs has
gone a lot further than simply breathing
new life into them – certainly in the case
of earlier tracks such as The American
and Chelsea Girl it has proven to be a
rare treat, letting us see that the quality of
their songwriting was there right from the
very start.
Of course the focus is going to be on the
stadium-era hits, and Don’t You (Forget
About Me) and Promised You A Miracle
deliver it in spades with KT Tunstall
adding a special something and the
new arrangements letting us see some
of the layers that were always there but
perhaps hidden by the original mix.
One song that surprised me, as despite
having the vintage, it wasn’t at the time
a favourite of mine, was Sanctify
Yourself, which is this arrangement
becomes a beautiful and beatific
celebration of just about everything.
Seriously well done.
You really do need to hear this album
though as there are some fantastic
arrangements that make you look at
songs you have known for decades in
a completely different way, and
perhaps make you realise what a seam
of quality there was running through
everything these chaps have been
doing for years, and go and check out
any of the sections you may have
missed.
Get Acoustic Here

JOSEPH ALEXANDER
The Caged System
I’ll be totally honest, I’ve kind of bumbled
along playing the guitar for years now, a
smattering of theory, a hand filled with
chords (just about) and if it wasn’t for my
amazing musical creativity and genius,
things may not have been so easy.
OK, maybe not, I can’t even hum.
So, it was with a little trepidation and not
a lot more hope that I started to work
through Joseph Alexander’s rather
brilliant explanation of the CAGED
system, which as I am sure you know,
teaches you that you can’t play Am Blues
over everything and that things like
chords and scales and keys, maybe are
related in some way after all.
In fact, even if you are a lot better than
I am at all this guitar bobbins, this is a
brilliant book, with real world examples
and downloadable backing tracks, that
will really kick start things for you.
In fact Fundamental have so many
brilliant courses on offer it is inspiring,
even for a blodger such as I, and
believe me, you are a lot better than I
am.
So to summarise, this book quite
genuinely has changed my life, and
Joseph has the eternal thanks of my
family, friends, neighbours and indeed,
many passers-by too.
Go and find out more HERE.

SCRATCH-IT
Originality in Scratchplates? Surely Not?
In one of the early issues of 4.52am, we
were made-up to have Tim from Scratch-
It explain how he can turn your photo,
artwork or just a dumb idea into a unique,
hardwearing and beautifully made
scratchplate that will make your guitar or
bass the envy of all who survey.
It sounded simple when he explained it,
but to be honest it still feels a little like
voodoo to me.
However, for what is really a crazy cheap
price Tim continues to make these
bespoke wonders for legions of
guitarists, and if he has the time, I’m
hoping we’ll be catching up with him
again in the new year to talk about what
is next on his list, world dominion apart.
So, if you fancy something special, visit
Scratch-It Here and marvel. It
genuinely is one of the most innovative
and brilliantly simple ideas I’ve seen for
years.

THE WAVE PICTURES
Bamboo Diner in the Rain
If Luke Haines created our Album of the
Year in 4.52am, The Wave Pictures ran
him so close we couldn’t actually agree
on which was better.
And to be perfectly honest I still don’t
know as it tends to be the one that I’m
listening to that edges it.
Because in Bamboo Diner as us
aficionados call it, The Wave Pictures
have eloquently and beautifully created
what could well be the perfect British
Pop Album for this and any other
Epoch.
Vocally, it is stunning, personal, unique
and just plain old-fashioned groovy.
Musically, it has everything you want .
So if you like your music with some
intelligence, quirks and beauty, do
yourself a favour and check The Wave
Pictures out HERE.

CARRIE BROWNSTEIN
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir
During the ‘90s when Grunge reigned
supreme, running alongside and if you
looked carefully- many times way ahead
- the girls were in on the act too, with a
movement that came to be known as
Riot Grrrl.
Unsurprisingly Courtney Love’s Hole
and bands like L7 took the headlines in
the UK, but in the U.S and among those
that liked their music 4-Real but
intelligent, it was the quite brilliant
Sleater-Kinney that were stretching
punk-rock in new directions, and the
central writing partnership of Corin
Tucker and Carrie Brownstein who had
a left-leaning political awareness that
threaded through all of their works.
In Hunger Makes a Modern Girl Carrie
Brownstein tells her tale of growing up in
a typically dysfunctional family, the
escape music gave her and then the rise
of Sleater-Kinney into what was
described as ‘Americas Best Rock
Band’. But most of all she tells the story
of an America, a world, where Feminism
and a new kind of radical personal
politics was finally finding a voice, and a
kind of power was shifting to the poets
and the artists in a movement that saw
real change and then further fights to
keep the ground they’d won. Something
that today seems even more important
than ever.
This is a beautifully written story by a
lady with a soul laden with fire and
silk, it is an exquisite book that if you
love music, musicians and the way a
word can change, can be changed,
you really have to own.
Find out more HERE

STAND MADE
It’s In The Wood
One of the most beautiful things we have
managed to bring people via 4.52am over
the last few months (although I’m sure
many people had found them before) are
the wonderful people at Stand Made, who
are single-handedly recreating what the
humble guitar stand can be.
Taking carefully selected chunks of the
finest oak, they create perfectly
sculptured yet functional designs that will
present your guitar or guitars to the world
like a precious jewel.
So if you want to finally get your beautiful
guitars out of the back bedroom and into
the lounge, check them out HERE.

TRACEY THORN
Naked at the Albert Hall
I’ve tried my best to forget just how many
years it is since I first heard Tracey Thorn
sing – it was in my best friend’s front room,
not that Tracey was there, no, his sister had
a copy of Everything But The Girl’s Eden and
it really did transport me to the left bank of
somewhere exotic. Hull, maybe.
Since then I’ve listened to all of the EBTG
albums, her solo work, collaborations and a
year or so back I read Bedsit Disco Queen a
quite exceptional book, and so when I saw
that Tracey had written a second book, I
couldn’t wait to get hold of it.
And what a treat it is. For a start I should
say that it isn’t a novel, or a self-help guide
in getting over presentation nerves, this is
an in depth look at what it really means to
be a singer, written by somebody who has
been there and has a knack for putting
things simply for those of us that haven’t.
It is a quite beautifully written book, it
doesn’t come as a surprise that Ms. Thorn
has a way with words, we already knew that
years ago, but she has an academics zeal
for getting things right and isn’t ego-laden
and so is happy to interview her peers for
their own experiences or refer to more
academic texts.
For anybody with any designs on becoming
a singerist, this is a perfect place to start,
and if like me you are tone-deaf and happy
to let others provide the music, this is a
fantastic aid in understanding what it is
that they are doing, just a little bit more.
You can find Naked at the Albert Hall
HERE
You really should check out Bedsit Disco
Queen while you are at it too. That can
be found HERE.

GUYTON GUITARS
Luthier Super Star
One of the nicest surprises I’ve
personally had since we started the
whole 4.52am and Guitar Quarterly
crusade, is the fact that I’ve become
enlightened in the Guyton Guitars
compartment of my brain. Not that I
wasn’t aware of the stunning Brian May
inspired and authorised guitars Andrew
has been making over the last few years,
but it was his own creations that surprised
me. I really don’t know why though, he is
after all a supremely talented luthier chap
of the brightest sort, but perhaps I just
hadn’t looked before.
My only problem in including Andrew’s
work in this guide is which of his guitars
to cover. In 4.52am we have seen both
the Speedway model you can see over
there, but also his recently released and
beautifully engineered travel guitar, the
RS Transporter. Either could provide the
justification for any luthier’s career, but
for Andrew they are just steps along the
way.
You can check out the Guyton Guitars
web site HERE, or visit the Limited
Edition RS Transporter site THERE.
Just take a cuppa, it could take you a
while.

DAVE HOLWILL
Weekend Rockstars
When I reviewed Dave Holwill’s debut
novel Weekend Rockstars a few short
weeks ago, I was struck by the fact it is
the one novel I have read about being in
a band that genuinely feels like it was
written by somebody who has really been
in a band. Not a superstar story, like for
instance Iain Banks’ Espedair Street
which until now I would have said was the
closest to reality I’ve read, and a million
miles away from the largely fictional
autobiographies that will be piled high this
Christmas in Waterstones. And in a way
that is the odd thing, there are so many
fictions and half-truths patched together
and sold as the one truth (and you chaps
know who you are) when the most
realistic is written as a novel, ‘loosely’
based on Dave’s personal reality.
As for the book it is a love story of sorts
and if you are reading this looking for an
idea for Xmas for a guitar strumming
relative or friend, and you would like to
see them cringe a little within as they
recognise themselves, well, this is the
kiddy. And that is the truth of it – the
Johnny Marr book is brilliant, open and
honest and everything we as guitarists
wish we could say about ourselves
(given talent, luck, hard work, talent
and latent genius.)
Dave’s book on the other hand is a
more likely reality for the rest of us
mere mortals.
I think I finished the previous review by
saying that if Nick Hornby had written
this, it would already be Number One in
the Bestsellers and be optioned for a
movie, and in one way I was right, but
in another I was miles off.
There is no way in a million years Nick
Hornby could have written this. It is a
special book, and they don’t come
along too often.
Buy a copy HERE

RIFT AMPS
Brownie 5
I’ve always loved a good What-If, whether
it is Nazis marching down the Mall or the
KKK getting a foothold in the Whitehouse
the more ridiculous it is the better.
(Oh, hang on…)
But sometimes a What-If is more of a
really-should-have-been, and in the case
of Rift Amps, Chris had always been
bugged by a certain missing step in
Fender’s history.
As he explained,
“The mighty Fender Champ went from its
Tweed iteration straight to Blackface,
missing out on enjoying a few years as a
Brownface amp. This has always bugged
me and I wondered 'What would a
Brownface Champ sound like?"
Naturally, being a chap who can, Chris
went away and through trial and error,
worked out exactly (to his mind) what a
5w Brownie Champ would have been
like.
And I guess being supremely talented
and having the know-how to craft such
things from scratch, is quite an
advantage, but I have to say if there is
one amp I’d like to be finding in my
stocking this Christmas this is it.
I could go on about this for days, but for
now I’ll just point you in Chris’ direction
HERE as he is far better equipped to
talk you through it.

SWANS
The Glowing Man
Much has been made about Michael
Gira’s decision to call time on this version
of Swans, but even though we all know
that it is just the end of a chapter rather
than a volume, The Glowing Man is an
incredible end to a peerless series of
albums.
Saying that, of course, it is never what
you would call an easy thing to listen to,
taking quite literally weeks to get the gist
of it, I couldn’t claim even a few months
later that I have heard all that is to be
heard. And for me that has always been
the key to Gira’s work, the layers upon
layers of ideas, not just sounds, that he
demands that his listeners join him in
exploring. You wonder at times whether
he can possibly remember every back
road and alley way he has created, but
then something explodes and it all begins
to make sense – or so you think. Because
with Swans you never really know what
the truth of it all is. Are we listeners or
taking part, contributors or victims, all of
the roles are reversed and the doubt is
as dense as the sounds.
There is one moment which for me
summarises exactly why this album
works, and indeed all of Swans’ albums
share something similar.
I could write it down, but for you it would
be wrong, I’m positive it is different for
each of us, like love, chess and the
colour blue. We never really know what
other people are seeing, do we?
Go find a copy of this while you can and
find your own reality. It is Glowing Here
for now.

Haynes – Paul Balmer
Build Your Own Electric Guitar
Over the last few years, Haynes have
done a fantastic job in expanding their
reach from their traditional Car
Maintenance Guides, and have created
some of the most entertaining and
interesting books around. It takes a
certain, self-awareness to be able to do
that sort of thing, and you have to wish
them well.
Of course being a Guitar Geek, it is their
Guitar books that particularly interest me
(although if anybody local is reading and
thinking Millennium Falcon Workshop
Manual, you wouldn’t be a million miles
away) and having their Gibson SG and
Fender Telecaster books on the shelf, I
was really interested to see how the Build
Your Own Electric Guitar one stood up
against them.
And I have to say from the off it is
beautifully written. Photos of course are
high quality and meaningful, focussing on
the things you will struggle with as well as
the simpler tasks that you probably think
you know how to do already, but will
happily ‘double check’.
I suppose the key question is whether
you could sit down with the book and
nothing else and having bought parts
recommended end up with a working
guitar, and on balance I say that you
could. Would it be the best playing
guitar ever? Probably not, but then
neither are Fenders or Gibsons when
they leave the factory, you always need
them tailored to your own style, after
all, but saying that the book could quite
easily act as a set-up guide, so with
time – why not?
All of which sounds negative, but isn’t
at all, as I honestly think anybody can
make a guitar from parts, and if I had
had this book to hand a few years ago,
I would probably have a lot more hair
and have made a lot better guitars right
from the start.
Go check it out Here – this could well
be the perfect Xmas present for the
guitarist in your life.

DAVID BOWIE
Blackstar
I’m sure that I can’t really add much to the
tributes that have been paid to David
Bowie since his passing this year, but
equally I couldn’t imagine not including
Blackstar in our Alternative Xmas Guide,
as quite frankly I can’t imagine there is
anybody who shouldn’t own a copy or
want to own one.
Looking at the album without the
backdrop of what came shortly after is
perhaps impossible, but in a lot of ways
for me it summed up everything that
Bowie was. It is another view, another
direction he could have taken further,
but sadly won’t and we will never know
what we have lost.
Obviously, you need to buy one Here if
you haven’t already.