Covert operatives

Figure-enhancing cut, warm wool, velvet collars. Nothing beats a covert coat - it dresses down a suit and dresses up more casual outfits. No wonder it's the coat of choice for both country gentlemen and skinheads. Don't just take Lord Bassington-Bassington's word for it, listen to Major Hoad.

There are many English clothing companies famous for their covert coats. Cordings and Crombie have more or less defined the coat, but any self-respecting company will sooner or later try their hand at an interpretation of the covert coat.

Here it is given a delightful old geezer twist by Peter Christian.



While here it takes a trip to Stockholm and Venice courtesy of the kings of Anglo-Swedish style, Morris.



But our favourite here at Bassington Manor is undoubtedly New & Lingwood, who also make superb slippers and the ultimate pocket hankies for such as Lord Bassington-Bassington.



Let the winter come. In a covert coat, one is prepared for anything.

Here in Black Jena

Nonpop's interview with Solblot made Lord Bassington-Bassington nostalgic for the sounds of Forseti. Possibly the most artistically interesting neofolk band Germany has ever produced, Forseti's career was cut short when their front man Andreas Ritter suffered a stroke in 2005.

This video mixes their music (with Douglas P. as guest vocalist) with images from Andrei Tarkovsky's film Andrey Rublev. The results are mesmerising. His Lordship also recommends this interview with Herr Ritter.



Lord Bassington-Bassington would also like to remind neofolk lovers that a benefit CD has been released to help Herr Ritter deal with the aftereffects of his stroke. It comes highly recommended. While Lord Bassington-Bassington normally has few reservations about file sharing, and normally doesn't believe in any form of afterlife, he hopes there is a special Hell for people who pirate this album.

Neofolk, nostalgia, nudism

German web magazine Nonpop have an interesting interview with Solblot, Lord Bassington-Bassington's favourite national romantic boy band. Both in German and English, here.

Eddic editorialising

All-round interesting (and tweed-wearing) human Carl Abrahamsson has launched a new electronic magazine, The Edda Edition. Lord Bassington-Bassington finds it to be a very enjoyable mix of catalogue and journalism, in a way that hearkens back to the pre-Internet days. And because it's free, one has few excuse not to read it (though our grumpier readers will probably think of a few).



To receive your copy of The Edda Edition send an email to edda (a) edda (.) se to subscribe, or use this link to download it.

Sidewalk magic

Some day you might arrive at your little club, and on the sidewalk outside see an elegantly slender neofolk musician enjoying a quiet drink and a cigarillo. And suddenly the street is transformed from a boring, modern town into a something from a city and a time that possibly exists only in your imagination.

And even if your hands are full of guitars and absinthe accessories, and you know you can't possibly do this moment justice, you fish your iPhone out of your pocket, snap some pictures and post them on the Internet. As a small way of saying thank you.

To life, to magic, to music. But most of all to monsieur Jivek.





You can enjoy a recording of his performance here.

Ex Occidente deluxe

With Lord Bassington-Bassington's newfound passion for small press publishers, His Lordship was elated when news of Ex Occidente Press reached his velvety, drooping ears. Not only does this publisher have almost exactly the same name as Lord Bassington-Bassington's favourite record label, it also specializes in weird fiction. Not to mention that it produces books to a standard that must be seen to be believed.



Lord Bassington-Bassington has so far only been able to acquire one of Ex Occidente's releases, The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Stories by Mark Samuels, which comes highly recommended to anyone with a taste for the weird and decadent. The theme was particularily fascinating because His Lordship was able to visit Arthur Machen's birthplace this summer.



Oh, and in case you're wary of sending money off to Romania, calm your qualms. His Lordship has rarely experienced service as efficient and polite as that provided by Ex Occidente.

Black paw power!

We like pocket hankies here at Bassington Manor. So when Lord Bassington-Bassington found this paw print hankie at that temple of traditional style, London's New and Lingwood, he was elated. What better way to show his support for canine supremacy?

The handkerchief has, for some reason, proved remarkably resistant to ironing, but it still looks absolutely spiffy with canine cufflinks.

Café Grössenwahn launches web pages

Web wizard Mr. Baetylous has been hard at work, and the web pages of Café Grössenwahn can now be unleashed upon the public in time for the coming Saturday, when the next gathering of the Norwegian Society for Megalomania will take place. Lord Bassington-Bassington is rather pleased with how the web pages turned out, and we in the staff here at Bassington Manor choose to ignore his complaints (such as the pictures only being of creatures with ears much too short to be acceptable in polite society, and a lack of “scratch’n’sniff” features.)

We here at the Chronicles look forward to this upcoming gathering immensely, and especially to hear live performances by French neofolk buccaneer Kentin Jivek and co-founder of neofolk, Anthony Wakeford, Esq.

Visit - and enjoy - the web pages at Grossenwahn.no. And if it seems like something you'd appreciate, feel free to apply for membership.

The political disclaimers are a reflection of the sad state of affairs here in Scandinavia.

K100 comes out of the vault

Dark ambient music is not something that really caught on in Norway, and frankly, what has been produced (none mentioned, none offended) has rarely been very interesting. So it’s good news that there seems to prop up some interesting newcomers, with S(ermo) III being particularily interesting for those with a taste for the Lovecraftian.

But the best Norwegian dark ambient project today is, in Lord Bassington-Bassington not-so-humble opinion, K100. Their first proper release, The Vault of Apparitions, just came out and aptly demonstrates what a great act they are.



Being helmed by Kim Sølve, designer extraordinaire (and person who likes to hang out in foggy places), K100 is in many ways a continuation of previous project Swarms, but K100 is a leap forward in all respects. Pitch black yet richly textured, K100 is the perfect accompaniment to your autumnal reading, writing and nightmares.



So far, K100's only manifestation outside the studio has been to provide the soundtrack for the opening ritual for Oslo’s Café Grössenwahn, but that worked so well that we here at the Chronicles are considering putting on an ambient night sometime in the future. Stay tuned!

The green fairy: The educational film

As he is involved in running the Café Grössenwahn, Lord Bassington-Bassington is sometimes asked about the absinthe fountain the Café is more or less organised around. So when he stumbled across this little informational film, he was elated. This little gem of a film tells you practically everything you need to know about absinthe.



Incidentally, the music is by In the Nursery.

All informational films should be like this.

Alraunic mysteries

Lord Bassington-Bassington would like to inform the readers of his Chronicles that one of his favourite publishers, Side Real Press, have a new book out. It's a new translation of a masterpiece of weird fiction, Hanns Heinz Ewers' Alraune, in an absolutely stunning edition.



This release should be of interest not only to devotees of weird fiction, but also to friends of neofolk music, as a certain band have taken their name from this book (and the plant it is named after).



It can be ordered here.

A most welcome form of Islamisation

While some people obsess about a perceived Islamisation of the west, Lord Bassington-Bassington tends to take a more relaxed stance, focusing on the advantages of being lightly enriched by Muslims.



And a few days ago, His Lordship decided to Islamise his head by ordering his first fez hat. Like any piece of clothing worth owning it has a rich and conflicting history, and we at the Chronicles would like to point our readers’ attention to this interesting treatise on the matter.



As this picture by the remarkable artist Shag clearly shows, the fez is an indispensable part of proper nightlife. But it is also possible to wear a fez in a variety of ways, as demonstrated by this auxiliary member of Slovenian Industrial group Laibach.



In fact, His Lordship can't really think of any outfit that doesn't work with a fez. This will be an interesting autumn indeed.

Service resumed soon

We’ve been quiet for a while, as we have been out travelling and had to finish a manuscript. Normal service will resume soon. In the meantime, here is a small snapshot from our explorations this summer. Can you guess which suitcase belongs to Lord Bassington-Bassington, and which is Lady Mju’s?