Author Archives: Jammo

Review: My Friend Snooh – Rahel Süßkind

Read Time: 1 min

Title: My Friend Snooh (2025)
By: Rahel Süßkind
Published by: Self Published
Format: Comic Book

I’ve just re-read Rahel Süßkind’ 2022 comic, My Friend Snooh. The Bizarro tales of three flatmates: Clumsy, Coney and Snooh, not to mention a wild collection of supporting characters.

‘Clumsy’, a bearish-monkey-like creature with a passing resemblance to Princess Leia, creates a small puppet (Snooh) from her snot, which magically comes to life. Coney, Clumsy’s rabbit flatmate, who is disgusted at the very thought of a snot puppet, let alone a fully-fledged snot-person, must accept Snooh or else be doomed to suffer a life of oral herpes. What follows is sixty-odd pages of raucous, monster energy-indebted psychedelic fun, in eye-popping colour. The trip scenes are sublime!

My favourite character by a country mile is the steroid-addled Mrs Rooster, a Mr Muscle-inspired fowl who, like a gym rat genie, pops up from time to time to help civilians struggling with everything from carpet cleaning to constipation. Here’s my favourite panel:

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Recalling Total Recall

Read Time: 2 mins

Film: Total Recall (1990)
Directors: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Michael Ironside
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller

I was nine years old when Total Recall was released, living in Munster, Niedersachsen. Proud home of the Deutsches Panzermuseum, A stone’s throw from Lüneburger Heide, and, most importantly, a short car drive from Heide Park. In many ways, my life ran a strange parallel to that of Douglas Quaid, the film’s protagonist, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Him a construction worker, troubled by nightmares/memories of another life, tired of his mundane earthly existence, and dreaming of a more meaningful future on Mars. Me, sitting in a Plattenbau, on the edge of a small West German town, dreaming of sidestepping Wumbo at the Heide Park gates, jumping off the miniature train and finally riding the Wildwasserbahn(2). Quaid and I were like two peas in a pod, which is probably why Total Recall resonated so strongly with me.

The Wildwasserbahn(2) at Heide Park. Almost as good as going to Mars

Fast-forward thirty-odd years and here I am, sitting in another German town, with my fourteen-year-old son, rebooting Total Recall. Now, I’ve always been cautious about re-watching the films of my youth, but I’m pleased to report that Total Recall was still brill!

Nowadays, in my final Pokémon evolved state; a jaded chubby, failed disc jockey, trying to sound clever on the internet, I am aware that Paul Verhoeven’s big-screen adaptation of Philip K Dicks novelette “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” may not entirely do justice to the original, but what a ride it was!

Mostly it was as I remembered: high octane, sexy muscle stuff, with a triple-breasted lady, and eye-popping practical effects, such as the ID card check-in scene, where Quaid (or is it, Hauser) attempts to re-enter Mars encased in a type of robotic flesh suit, played by Priscilla Allen. The suit inevitably malfunctions, causing the head to open, revealing Quaid to his pursuers.

Nine-year-old Jammo hadn’t fully appreciated the subplot of Quaid’s identity, but my fourteen-year-old seemed to, The kids are alright! Did any of it ever really happen? Was it all an implanted memory? Does it even matter?

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Neşe Karaböcek – Yali Yali / Çayelinden Öteye

Wild birdsong Turkish folk-funk psychedelic brilliance, from the amazing Neşe Karaböcek! This should set anyone’s Monday in the correct direction

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Jammo’s Digest: June 2023

Read Time: 3 mins

Friends, Romans, and Country fans, it hath been a while. I’ve been away, it’s been good. Recently I quit all of my social media accounts (Fediverse discluded) and, at the risk of being the kind of person who says things like “The best things in life aren’t things” whilst backpacking through some far-flung poverty-stricken country on dad’s credit card, I do actually feel as though I’ve got my life back.

Days have grown longer, stress has reduced, and so weiter. Perhaps I’ve gone so far up my own arse listening to the likes of Jaron Lanier bang on about the evils of Facebook and Instagram, that I’m in danger of starting a medieval-inspired Gameboy-chip-core project, who knows, but I’m happy(er).

MUSIC

Wolfgang Dauner Quintet – Take Off Your Clothes and Feel the Setting Sun (MPS):

The weather is ridiculous at the moment. Virtually consistent temperatures of 25-30°C throughout May and June are just not fucking normal. So, this swinging bit of Psyche Jazz from Wolfgang Dauner’s 1969 album ‘The Oimels’ seems a good fit, though at this point I may just take my skin off!

Wonky Electro wizard, Si Begg

S.I. Futures – Eurostar (Novamute):

Thou shalt not question Si Begg! I’ve been playing this glitch-ridden take on Kraftwerk since it came out, I don’t want to say how long that is, you have Google! Nonetheless, I still love it! Twisted bass, oodles of heavily processed samples and that gorgeously melodious vocoder line. What’s not to like?

Electrelane – Love Builds up (Too Pure):

Beautifully evolving Kraut-inspired excellence from Brighton’s equally excellent Electrelane. Built around a noodling Farfisa and fuzzy guitar flourishes, Love Builds Up spirals its way through 5-and-a-bit minutes of what sounds like The Stranglers interpreting Neu, and straight into this old mans heart.

Rahill – Haenim (Big Dada):

I’ve no idea what’s being sung on this track, but Dad’s been on Google and found out that Haenim –which means ‘The Sun’– was originally sung by South Korean folk artist Kim Jung Mi and later translated into Farsi by Rahill for this version. Its gorgeous naive melodies put me in a beautiful space, and I will love it forever (both versions).

Al Lover – Integrated Paradox (Fuzz Club Records):

I absolutely adore the entrenched neo-kraut sound of this track from Al Lover’s 2022 release “Cosmic Joke” on Fuzz Club Records. My mate Charlie sent me a photo of a sticker a while back, which read “Weatherall is Watching”. Now, I’m no god squadder, but, if he is, I think he’d be chuffed to bits with this. Part Kosmisch, part Madchester, It sort of reminds me of Llywbr Llaethog’s ‘Ffanny’. A proper tewn!

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El Michels Affair – Ala Vida

It’s been an up-and-down day, meteorologically speaking, and for what feels like the first time in hours, I’ve got me feet up, whilst enjoying this beauty from New York’s El Michels Affair. Jubbly

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Nico Georis – Hot Slots

It’s been a mental Monday and this track has been swimming round my head. I guarantee ‘Hot Slots’ will turn any mundane Supermarkt trip into a Bowsers castle-style Abenteuer!

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Alexander’s Dark Band – The Immortal Squirrel

Tell you wot, the sun is unrelenting today. Of course, most of the folk out here are lovin’ it, but I’ve gotta be honest.. ist nicht so meins! Gimme 20 degrees and a light breeze. Nonetheless, I’ve been listening to this track from 2005’s ‘Dobutsu Bancho’ on loop all day.

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