Inspiration – books, film, music etc

Music

Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, Depeche Mode, Jimmy Eat World, Marilyn Manson, NIN, The Distillers, Rancid, Aimee Mann, Spunge, Snuff, The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, AFI, Everclear, Green Day, Johnny Cash, Marvin Gaye, Vandals, Blur, Oasis, Elastica, Sleeper, The Pixies, Hole, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Van Morrison, Prodigy, The Specials, Portishead, King Prawn, White Stripes, MCR, The Clash, The Smiths, Morrissey, No Doubt, Save Ferris, QOTSA, Edith Piaf, Stone Roses, Ian Brown, NOFX, Echo & the Bunnymen, My Ruin, Jack off Jill, Sonic Youth, Duran Duran, Less than Jake, The Doors, Violent Femmes, Bad Religion, Alexisonfire, Joy Division, New Order, The Cure, Weezer, The Kinks, Death Cab for Cutie, The Horrors, Gene, Lit, Finch, The Maccabees, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Pulp, Hard-Fi, Snake River Conspiracy, Kings of Leon, Bullet for My Valentine, The Pretenders, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Rakes, Regina Spektor, Biffy Clyro, Maximo Park, Libertines, The Coral, Robots in Disguise, Aphex Twin, Dr Dre, Eminen, Outkast, The Ettes, Scanners, The Bronx, Martha Wainwright, CSS, The Used, Prince, Bloc Party, Laura Marling, Nouvelle Vague, Josephine Baker, Moldy Peaches, The Kills, Devon Sproule, Babyshambles, Arcade Fire, Fleetwood Mac, Glasvegas, The Cribs, New Young Pony Club, Metallica, Alec Empire, Atari Teenage Riot, White Lies, Silversun Pickups, Death from above 1979,

TV Shows:

Dead Set, Spaced, The Mighty Boosh, Peepshow, Black Books, League of Gentlemen, Hustle, Dr. Who. Sugar Rush, Mock the Week, Family Guy, How I Met Your Mother. I also like a good British murder mystery esp. Waking the Dead, Morse, Silent Witness. Skins. Casanova with David Tennant is the best bit of TV in years. Jekyll. Anything and everything by Stephen Poliakoff.

Films:

My Summer of Love, Garden State, Donnie Darko, 28 Days Later, Eternal Sunshine, Lost in Translation, Closer, Shaun of the Dead, Dark Water (original Japanese), Y Tu Mama Tambien, Anything by Almodovar (especially Talk to Her), The Dreamers, The Motorcycle Diaries, Walk the Line, Virgin Suicides, Amores Perros, Marie Antoinette, The Breakfast Club, Bonnie & Clyde, Doctor Zhivago, Memento, American History X, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill 2 (better than 1), Igby Goes Down, Tale of Two Sisters, Edward Scissorhands, The Constant Gardener, Apocalypse Now, Requiem for a Dream, Lolita (both versions), Adaptation, The Beach, A Life Less Ordinary, Trainspotting, Chasing Amy, Dazed & Confused, Vanilla Sky, High Fidelity, Grosse Point Blank, The Talented Mr Ripley, Enduring Love, Lost Boys, Flatliners, Mean Girls, Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge, English Patient, 10 Things I Hate About You, Volver, Little Miss Sunshine, Jackie Brown, Run Lola Run, Amelie, Empire Records, The Graduate, Hot Fuzz, The Very Long Engagement, The Wicker Man (original obviously), Pan’s Labyrinth, La Science des Reves, La Haine, Jules et Jim, Ma Femme est une Actrice, Ils (Them) – very scary French film, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Factory Girl, Romero’s Zombie flicks, Dead Man’s Shoes, 30 Days of Night

Books:

Any book by ian mcewan (esp. first love, last rites and the comfort of strangers), the sea, the sea, – iris murdoch, return of the native – thomas hardy, tender is the night – f.scott fitzgerald, the end of the affair – graham greene, the tortilla curtain – tc boyle, oryx and crake, and cat’s eye – margaret atwood, lolita – vladimir nabokov, virgin suicides – jeffrey eugenides, wuthering heights – emily bronte, norwegian wood – haruki murakami, playing out -paul magrs, the lovely bones – alice sebold, the birthday letters – ted hughes, big sur – jack kerouac, notes on a scandal – zoe heller, the secret history – donna tartt, five quarters of the orange – joanne harris, the cryptographer – tobias hill, the go-between – l.p. hartley, encyclopaedia of snow – sarah emily miano, the rules of attraction – brett easton ellis, prozac nation – elizabeth wurtzel, words – jean paul sartre, the unbearable lightness of being – milan kundera, girlfriend in a coma – douglas coupland, robert browning, t.s. eliot (esp. Prufrock), luke wright performance poetry, toby litt – deadkidsongs, the poisonwood bible – barbara kingsolver, a moveable feast – ernest hemingway, she came to stay – simone de beauvoir, i capture the castle – dodie smith, as i walked out one midsummer morning – laurie lee, engleby – sebastian faulks, time’s arrow – martin amis